Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he wants to visit Gaza Strip and described last month’s visit there by the emir of Qatar as a positive step. Vatan newspaper quotes Erdogan as saying he will determine the date of his trip with Gaza’s Hamas leadership. On Oct. 23, Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani became the first head of state to visit Gaza since Hamas came to power there five years ago. Erdogan says he once proposed visiting Gaza with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who was “warm” to the idea. He did not say whether he will ask Abbas again to join him.

A high-level Bahraini delegation was also scheduled to visit Gaza on November 1 to open two UNRWA schools. “A high-level Bahraini delegation will visit Gaza on Thursday headed by Mustafa Al-Sayyed, Secretary-General of the Bahraini Royal Charity Organisation (RCO),” said a statement issued by Taher Al-Nunu, spokesman for the Gaza government.